Original title: Who creates tension in Debar?
The texts which we analyze point out that the presence of the police in Debar during the early elections for mayor on 21 April as a proof that the Government puts pressure upon the voters in Debar to choose one of the two options, the Government or the opposition. In addition to the tension in Debar, it is stated that there are also tensions in Chair and Saraj.
Other portals that published the text: republika.mk
The author has tried to present a situation similar to a state of war, claiming that there are armored police vehicles in Debar, and that on the social media there are statuses about allegedly tense situations at some polling stations in Skopje. The stated statuses on Facebook and Twitter cannot be considered as credible sources because there one can write whatever they want.
It is true that during elections the police always makes assessment about the level of risk for certain polling stations which in the past have been prone to high risk. Therefore, additional police forces are sent there in order to maintain the public order and not to intimidate the citizens.
The police forces usually are not positioned at places that are visible for the citizens, in order not to intimidate them. However, if their presence is visible for the media or for the citizens, this does not mean that their role is to intimidate, but on the contrary, to maintain the public order.
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This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
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